Will o' The Wisp: An Aurora Grimeon Story

Local Comic Shop

This is a graphic novel I bought only after looking at the cover - a grave mistake indeed. But what a cover! It's hardcover and perhaps you can see well designed, but the best part is the little gilt-metal clasp on the side - like an ancient text. I didn't even trouble myself with trying to open the book in the store - lust took over and I walked straight to the check out.
Alas. I should have known not to trust it. (gosh darn it!) The art wasn't all that. In fact, it kind of sucked. I try to be nice and encouraging to other artists, because even I know that sometimes my own abilities can be easily criticized. But... there is no reason this should have been allowed to pass. The style was dated and a Emily The Strange/ Invader Zim knock-off - and it just wasn't good. The colors were muddled, flat, and blah. The character designs weren't very good either, for instance sometimes the men's expressions were feminine and constipated. And Aurora's upper lip looked like a row of tiny teeth, which I had a hard time over looking and figuring out. The writing wasn't much better either: it was riddled with plot holes. I suppose writing for comics can be difficult and different when you aren't used to it. I can imagine the meetings between the author and artist were enthusiastic, because starting a project like this for the first time would be really exciting, but they needed more than enthusiasm. I hope they'll have learned from the mistakes they made for their 2nd time.

So, what happens here is that teenaged Aurora, as lone survivor of her family, is placed in her Grandfather's care. Her Grandfather is an eccentric old man who lives in a Louisiana swamp. The majority of the residents of this swamp are very superstitious - and even more so as friends and family are being found dead (not long after Aurora's arrival). As a Louisiana native, I personally cringe a little at all the misconceptions, but whatever. I'm kind of used to it and expect it. Besides, the inaccuracies aren't really the worst parts, they just don't redeem any of it.
I probably should have taken more of this is stride because it's supposed to be for teenagers, which means I'm probably too old and pretentious for. Still, it felt like a waste of my time and money. I ended up handing it off to one of my teen-aged cousins.

An Update on The Goodness

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to do 25 good deeds for my 25th birthday. My birthday isn't for 5 days, but I've gotten a head start and already completed 12 of my good deeds. I've gotten some great feed back from friends and family who know about it. The only negative I've gotten was from my grandmother who swore I was going to make myself go broke. I don't need to explain to you that you don't need an allowance to do good deeds, and in fact, if you were to do 25 good deeds it wouldn't have to cost you any amount of money. Why should it? I did spend some money on this project, but it was worth it to me. What else would I use that money on anyway? Stuff. And I have plenty of stuff as it is.

So far, there are two good deeds that stand out the most. The first was a pair of coloring books and boxes of crayons which I brought to a local children's hospital. I expected to leave it, as we say in Louisiana, au cachette, in a waiting room where children might frequent. I explained my intentions to the receptionist who happily directed me to Pediatrics. When I reached the pediatrics wing I was introduced to a woman named Janie. She explained that she was exactly who I was looking for - though she didn't give me her work title, she is in charge of helping the children patients cope with being in the hospital. This was far better than what I'd expected. Think of it, being in the hospital is scary enough for an adult. I can't imagine the misery that a child (and their parents) must go through. My two coloring books, which aren't fancy and cost about the same as a meal from McDonald's in all, will definitely make a bigger difference to someone than filling my belly with an unhealthy lunch. I really didn't expect to help someone with a bigger issue than my own in such a direct way, and with such a tiny act. You hear it all the time, that small gestures amount to big things. You hear it, but I guess you have to act on it to really believe it.
You remember how I said in my last post to help "people, animals, minerals, and spirits"? Well my 2nd favorite good deed involves spirits. I went to school with the really cool guy. He was silly, he was sweet, he was good hearted, but he was definitely all guy. We rode the school bus together for years, and we graduated high school together. He was always nice to me, while most of our class mates teased me because, well, I was shy and deeply, deeply, incurably nerdy. I only found out this year that back when we were in school together and he heard the other students joking about me behind my back, he'd defend me because "I didn't ask for it like some others and was always a lady." Well, after we finished school, I went on to college and he, like most of the local men, went on to do heavy work. I won't say this boy was perfect - he was a little bit of a trouble maker. But he knew boundaries. We'd only been out of school a few years when a terrible freak accident at work killed him. It was jarring. He was my first school friend to die. It wasn't until last year that I realized that his grave was literally down the road from my house - not even half a block, but I live in the country and, well, we can't really measure anything that way. This morning I took a walk in the windy cold to the graveyard and spoke to my friend and left him some silk yellow orchids. I don't know if he liked yellow or orchids, but I do, so I'm going to hope he'll forgive me. I asked him to keep an eye out on my and our friends, like he used to do.

A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces is the comedic, classic Louisiana novel written by the New Orleans native John Kennedy Toole. We read this for my "funsies" Louisiana Lit class. As it turns out, Toole once taught English at my college, so I suppose it isn't surprising that we studied it, and the rumor is that Ignatius was inspired in part by my English professor.

Confederacy, which has a huge cast of characters, is centered around the gargantuan "intellectual snob" that is Ignatius Reilly. Ignatius can be infuriating and horrible, but he's also a riot. Ignatius, who has a Masters degree in Medieval history in a time when most people were lucky to finish high school, dresses like a hobo and lives with his mother. There isn't much he can tolerate of society, and sometimes his disgust is hilarious for it's irony. All is well in Ignatius' miserable little life, until... his poor sweet mother gets into an accident and causes a lot of damage that can only be paid off when Ignatius *gasp!* Gets. A. JOB.

Confederacy of Dunces is a hilarious novel - it's got something for everyone: high and low brow humor. It isn't often that I read a novel that makes me laugh out loud, and it also isn't often that people will stop me to talk about the book I'm reading, but isn't it so delightful when that does happen?
I really think this is a book everyone should read - or try to read, at least - though it isn't for everyone. The only way you can find out if it's for you, though, is to read it. Right?